Three Days of Gazing and the Time Thief's Insight

Deep within Kamar-Taj lay a circular stone chamber completely sealed by ancient runes. Time within was isolated from the outside world, making it the ideal place to study the Time Stone. At the center of the chamber, an ancient, eye-shaped pendant—the Eye of Agamotto—floated quietly above a stone platform, radiating a chilling green glow.

The Ancient One stood at the edge of the chamber, his expression more solemn than ever. "Remember your oath, Li Wei. Three days. You may only observe and analyze. Do not attempt to claim it as your own, and under no circumstances may you use its power to interfere with reality. Otherwise, the contract's backlash will take effect immediately, and I will personally exile you into the temporal currents."

Li Wei nodded solemnly. He could feel the heavy binding force of that oath, like invisible shackles locking onto the source of his soul. He walked to the stone platform, sat cross-legged, and let his gaze be completely captured by the green radiance.

Day One: The Illusion of Order and the Core of Chaos.

He did not rashly make contact with his psychic power. Instead, he first activated the system's highest-level analysis mode while pushing his newly acquired perception of time to its limit. His telekinesis transformed into countless probes that carefully circled the gem, sensing its energy fluctuations.

At first, the sensation was vast and orderly. In his "eyes," the Time Stone resembled the inner workings of an incomparably precise, massive clock, every passing second following established rules. This confirmed the Ancient One's theory of "sorting and defining time."

But as the analysis deepened, Li Wei gradually discovered something abnormal. Beneath those seemingly absolute laws of order hid a deeper, almost primordial "chaos." It was not disorder, but the very source of "infinite possibilities"! The power of the Time Stone was more like forcibly laying a track called "reality" across this chaotic sea of possibilities. So-called reversal and acceleration merely made reality move "backward" or "forward" along that track. Yet the gem itself possessed the potential to create new tracks, even temporarily connect different ones!

It is not merely the administrator of time... It is the manifestation of possibility itself! Li Wei was deeply shaken. This was completely different from the Crimson Empress's logic-based deductions. It was a non-logical creativity born from the very origin of rules.

Day Two: Rule Imprints and the Theft of "Grammar."

Having understood the core, Li Wei began trying to comprehend its "operating grammar." He could not directly command the gem, but like learning an unfamiliar language, he could record and analyze every energy fluctuation and every rule rune it emitted.

The process was exceedingly dangerous. The complexity of temporal laws far surpassed that of space and energy. Even a tiny misunderstanding could permanently disrupt his sense of time. His brain operated under an overwhelming load, while the system-assisted analysis progress bar advanced slowly but steadily.

[Time Rule Analysis: 1%... 3%... 7%...]

[Warning: High-dimensional information stream impact detected. Host's mental burden has reached the critical point.]

[Recommendation: Activate Astral Visualization Technique to stabilize the core, and invoke X-Gene adaptability for forced compatibility.]

Li Wei immediately complied. His soul anchored itself like a star, while his body's cells began actively adapting to the scouring of temporal laws under the X-Gene's optimization. He was like a pearl diver, desperately memorizing the splendor and dangers of the underwater world amid the raging currents of the deep sea.

He recorded an "acceleration rune sequence" capable of increasing the temporal flow of a local object by one-thousandth.

He deciphered the "basic framework of a cycle barrier" capable of trapping no more than one cubic meter of space in a ten-second loop.

He even caught a vague concept of how to "define" a brief temporal branch and connect it to the main timeline—this brushed against the threshold of creating parallel timelines!

He could not directly use the Time Stone's power, but he was "stealing" its grammar and duplicating its rule imprints!

Day Three: The Phantom Time Core and the Loophole in the Oath.

On the final day, Li Wei made an extraordinarily bold attempt. He could not use the Time Stone's power itself, but he could use his own power to simulate and replicate the rules he had understood!

He mobilized the immense magic within his body, his telekinesis, and bioenergy fused with various energy properties. Using his mindscape as a furnace and the stolen "temporal grammar" as a blueprint, he began constructing a miniature Phantom Time Core entirely his own!

This was an incredibly risky act, equivalent to installing an unstable time bomb inside his own body. Energies clashed and reorganized violently within him, attempting to imitate that supreme authority over time. Green temporal light occasionally shimmered beneath his skin, only for his flesh to crack from rule conflicts the next instant. The blood had barely seeped out before accelerated healing closed the wounds.

The Ancient One watched from the edge of the chamber with tightly furrowed brows. He could sense something dangerous taking shape within Li Wei, but according to the oath, as long as Li Wei did not directly use the Eye of Agamotto's power, he could not interfere.

Finally, just as the third day was about to end, a tiny, illusory green crystal composed of intricate energy patterns flashed across Li Wei's chest before vanishing. It was extremely unstable, and the temporal power it contained was perhaps only one-millionth that of the true Time Stone, lasting for only a brief time. But this meant—he had succeeded!

Without violating the oath—without using the gem's power itself—he had successfully used his own energy and understanding of the rules to create a one-use, inferior, yet genuinely time-powered "imitation"!

[Ding! Successfully analyzed part of the Time Stone's underlying rules. Successfully constructed one-use skill: "False Time Gap."]

[False Time Gap: Instantly creates a miniature temporal anomaly zone covering an extremely small area around the host—for example, the size of a fist. Within it, acceleration, deceleration, or a one-time, infinitesimal temporal reversal can be achieved for an extremely brief period (0.1–0.5 seconds). The reversal can only restore the host's own state and cannot affect the outside world. Each use consumes an enormous amount of energy, and the "Phantom Time Core" will collapse afterward, requiring reconstruction.]

The three days were over.

The Eye of Agamotto's glow slowly withdrew.

Li Wei opened his eyes. His face was somewhat pale, and his mind was severely drained, yet deep within those eyes, green hourglasses seemed to turn slowly, filled with the exhaustion and wisdom of one who had seen through all things.

He rose to his feet and gave the Ancient One a slight bow. "Thank you for your trust and support."

The Ancient One looked deeply at him, as though trying to see through the newborn Phantom Time Core in the depths of his soul. In the end, he merely sighed, his tone complicated. "You have gone farther than I imagined... and become more dangerous as well. Remember, those who play with time will eventually suffer its backlash. Take care of yourself."

Li Wei knew that the Ancient One had already noticed his little maneuver, but had chosen silence. This was both recognition that he had not crossed the line and perhaps... a greater investment in the future.

He left the stone chamber, feeling the faint yet undeniably real power of time within him, his heart surging with ambition.

He had not only glimpsed part of time's mysteries, but had also found a path to bypass restrictions and turn external power into his own.

This laid an incomparably solid foundation for his future control of—and even "plundering" of—the other Infinity Stones.

Time, the most elusive of all rules, had begun to reveal one corner of itself to him. And because of this, the plunderer's journey would enter an entirely new dimension.